Heat guns are fantastic for shrinking short lengths of heat shrink tubing, but when the inches start to add up, so does the Roast Factor. While heat guns are designed with directional airflow in mind, their heat output still tends to travel beyond the immediate shrink zone, and cause things like hands, clothes and nearby objects to become uncomfortably, and sometimes dangerously, hot. Not such a problem when you’re shrinking only a few inches here and there, but if the heat shrink job extends into feet, then you can be in for a bit of trouble. And the wasted energy! These things are like tiny jet engines. There’s got to be a way to efficiently apply heat shrink without cooking yourself or going broke on butane refills or utility bills in the process.

Enter the Focus-Lite Heat Shrink Processing Oven, which can shrink many, many feet of heat shrink tubing at a time, without causing the operator heat-related discomfort, or burning up too much energy in the process. It’s really pretty cool – you just hold the heat shrink wrapped cable in both hands, and gradually move it through the oven’s shrinking chamber, which reflects its contained heat around all sides of the tubing for a perfectly even shrink.

The Focus-Lite uses a halogen lamp that’s capable of hitting optimum temperature in milliseconds, and is able to shrink in a fraction of the time it takes a run-of-the-mill hot air tool, which accounts for a large part of this machine’s energy-saving qualities. The rest of the energy conservation factor is due to the fact that the oven requires only about 20% of the power typically guzzled by a standard heat gun. It’s also controlled via foot pedal, leaving you with two free hands, both of which I always like to have available when working on projects that require any degree of precision or quick response.

All this, and it’s small enough to mount right onto a work bench, so it’s ready at a moment’s notice, without you having to dig through a drawer or tool box, untangle a power cord, and plug in. It’s high volume heat shrink done right, with no waiting time, uncomfortable ambient heat, or wasted electricity. So learn from the burn, and get one of these into your workshop fast.